Hong Kong marches for injured editor

SAFEGUARDING FREEDOM:：In a recorded message broadcast to the protesters, injured former ‘Ming Pao’ editor Kevin Lau called on journalists to remain fearless

Bloomberg

Mon, Mar 03, 2014 - Page 5

Thousands of people took to Hong Kong’s streets yesterday to show support for press freedom and to demand police step up efforts to catch the assailants who critically injured a former newspaper chief editor in the territory.

Kevin Lau (劉進圖), former chief editor of Ming Pao, was ambushed on Wednesday last week as he got out of his car near a restaurant in Sai Wan Ho when an assailant slashed him with a meat cleaver.

The attack left Lau’s internal organs exposed and damaged nerves in his leg, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

Lau, 49, is now chief operating officer at a unit of Media Chinese International, which owns Ming Pao.

Lau, who had been in critical condition, is now stable and was transferred to a private hospital ward on Saturday, Ming Pao reported yesterday.

“Violent attacks are to make us fear, and if we are scared we will lose our freedom,” Lau said in a recorded message broadcast to protesters yesterday outside the territory’s government offices.

“I hope all journalists remain fearless and believe that justice can be manifested,” he added.

The police attach great importance to this case and are investigating every angle, Li Kin-fai, regional police commander on Hong Kong Island, said in a statement yesterday.

“Police would not tolerate any violence,” Li said. “The police, the media and members of the public shared the same goal to apprehend the culprits.”

The attack has added fuel to earlier concerns among Hong Kong journalists that the territory’s press freedom is being eroded.

Yesterday’s march followed a Feb. 23 protest attended by at least 1,600 people.

The city’s ranking on the global Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders fell to 58 last year from 18 in 2002.

Ming Pao has tripled to HK$3 million (US$387,000) its cash reward offered for the capture of Lau’s assailants.

Hong Kong police located a taxi driver who picked up a possible suspect in the slashing, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday, citing an unidentified person.